DIVYANKA TRIPATHI: BRILLIANCE PERSONIFIED!!!

YHM is one show that is utterly blessed with the rare occurrence of having a truly genius cast and team. Despite being a show that must survive in the Indian TV industry - under illogical, clich, and nonsense Indian drama tracks - it has been able to excel in every element and connect with audiences in a way that has never been done before. One of the many gifts that this show has given us is REAL actors. Tonight, I salute the performance of one such superstar: Divyanka Tripathi.

YHM's 15^th November episode was a real wonder. All the emotions were running wild, from start to finish. Amazing work by the entire team, but DT absolutely STOLE the show!! Divyanka was stupendous. Absolutely GENIUS enactment of everything that Ishita was going through. At the end of the episode, I literally stood up, took of all of my hats, and gave this woman a round of applause, bowing my head down to her magnificence. WHAT. AN. ACTRESS!! I am spellbound by you Divyanka. Completely spellbound.

Raman drops Ishita off at the venue: Ishita is feeling LOVE!

The best feeling is the world is not falling in love... it is BEING LOVED. The euphoria of being in love and BEING loved by the one person you have given your heart to is something that cannot be explained in words. Raman and Ishita have not said anything to each other yet, but their love needs no words. The emotions of love, being in love, and the even more fulfilling emotion of BEING loved, was PERFECTLY portrayed by Divyanka in this scene. Raman's intense gaze, his romantic words and sheer charm made Ishita feel loved and in love. Ishita did not want to leave him. Divyanka portrayed these emotions SO well, that I myself could FEEL being in love and being loved. I could feel what she was feeling. (actually, maybe I felt a little bit more in love than her... because Karan makes me want to take my pants off... but let's not get into that because I will never stop haha)

Ishita is about to enter what she thinks is the bachelorette party: feeling ANTICIPATION!

She forces herself to leave Raman, and stops at the door... bracing herself for her first "high society" bachelorette experience. She has never been to anything like this and on top of that, this is Shagun's party... where there are so many complicated relationships that she as to handle. She needs to keep her head held high, deal with the unknown bachelorette happenings, AND make sure that there is no messing up and unwanted drama. She heaves a sigh, preparing herself and hoping everything goes right, as she walks in. This was maybe... 10-20 seconds of a moment/scene, if even that? In just this little moment, Divyanka made me feel ALL of this. She made me feel Ishita's anticipation of going in for a new experience, dealing with complicated relationships, and making sure everything goes ok. All in a few seconds. If this isn't superstar power, then what is? Outstanding!

Ishita enters the bachelorette party? SHOCK AND CONFUSION

She enters, someone takes her clutch, and she walks in hoping to see some light and familiar faces. Suddenly, as a bartender plays with fire, she find herself cornered by a group of men who are staring at her with clearly all the wrong intentions. She feels shock and confusion... where is she? Divyanka's portrayal of being lost and in an uncomfortable place was BRILLIANT. Why? Because she was completely in character. Ishita is a strong, independent woman. She found herself cornered by a large group of men... you would think her instinctive reaction and emotion would be fear, right? No. She was shocked and confused, she knew instantly that was in the wrong place. She would find her way out. She is no abla nari!! SUPERB DT!!

Ishita realizes she is at the bachelor's party: feels DISTRESS and the immediate CONCERN of getting out of there

One of the men in the group mention Ashok's name, and she realizes she is at his party. She tries to clear the confusion, telling them she is not who they think she is, and she immediately starts to exit. The men try to make it difficult for her to leave, and she feels sudden distress and annoyance. She is only concerned with getting out of this place, and she pushes her way out. Again, PERFECTLY done by Divyanka. Ishita still felt no fear. She was just annoyed and stressed out by being cornered by all of these creepy men, and she was only concerned with getting herself out. Her feelings at this point were borderline frustration... "get out of my way", not "im scared of you" and trying to hide. BRILLIANT DT!! Brilliant!!

Ishita bumps into Param: she feels ANGER, she is FURIOUS!

As she escapes the group of men, she is stopped by Param. At first, she thinks nothing of it... she doesn't care, she knows she is at the wrong place, and she just needs to leave. When Param makes it clear that he wants to take advantage of this situation, Ishita's blood boils in anger. This man did not learn from his mistake at all! How DARE he do this again?! Divyanka portrayed this so well, from the feeling of needing to get out of there... she went to feeling of wanting to punch Param in the face in a matter of seconds. She was furious, and wanted to teach him a lesson, but this was not the place. She made another move to leave.

Ishita bumps into Ashok: she feels DISBELIEF and DISGUST

As she tries to leave Param, Ashok stops her and continues the verbal assault. She is completely appalled and disgusted. HIM TOO?! He has turned out to be just the same, if not worse than all the others. How shameless?! She feels disbelief. This man is supposed to be getting married, and he is doing THIS with a HER?! She feels completely disgusted. What about Shagun?? Ishita is completely grossed out. Even here, the feeling of fear has not creeped in yet. Divyanka's portrayal of this... the way her tears welled up showing her disgust, and the way her dialogue delivery emoted disbelief, was unbelievable!! She is a woman, and she could not believe what sad fate Shagun had. She has given so many years of her life to THIS shameless man, who had zero respect for woman. She almost feels sympathetic for Shagun, because she has loved such a disgusting man. In a way, her welled up tears are also for Shagun's sad fate... Ishita as a woman feels pain for her. And on top of this, this man was ready to molest her within a group of men, at his own bachelor's party. Divyanka's tears and expressions of disgust were SPOT ON!! I could feel this. I could feel it all.

Ishita is surrounded by all these animals: she feels FEAR and PAIN

NOW, completely overwhelmed with all of this, she starts to feel fear... all of the men start encircling her, raising their drinks and cheering as they stare at her from top to bottom, from every angle. She has become a piece of meat for these hungry predators. She is scared, scared of loosing all of her respect to a bunch of animals. She cries, telling them to stay away. She is humiliated. She feels as if each individual animal is taking off every garment of cloth on her body one by one with their eyes, slurring foul words as they do it, and crushing her dignity. She runs and makes an escape running outside the venue, but one man gets a hold of her and tries pulling her back, holding onto her arms. She struggles with all she has, crying for help, trying to free herself from his grip. She feels alone, helpless... praying for someone, anyone to save her. The fear turned into tears of unbearable pain is not an easy emotion to portray at all, but Divyanka did it in such a way that it felt REAL. I could feel her fear and pain. I could feel her tears and cries for help. Divyanka, you were overwhelming powerful here... really, a difficult thing for me... for us all to watch.

Mani saves her: Ishita's pain becomes ACHING PAIN

Mani saves her from the man in the nick of time. Ishita holds herself and lets her tears fall freely. She watches as Mani beats the man up, but she can't stop crying. She is aching... she is hurting, hurting so very much. She has been ripped off of all of her dignity by all of these men, and feels as if she was standing naked at their mercy. Mani is here now, but had he not been... what would have happened? The mere thought causes searing pain. Divyanka showed us how much Ishita was hurting, but more than that, she made us FEEL it. She was humiliated, and she could do nothing about it now. It had happened. It was done.

Raman comes and BASHES the man in raging fury: Ishita feels DESPERATION

Ishita is so lost in her tears and despair, she does not even realize at first when Raman runs to her and starts brutally bashing the man. She was so dazed by her pain; everything was a blur behind her flowing tears. As Raman is beating up the man, Mani goes to Ishita and tries to console her and bring her back to senses. As Main brings her in for a consoling hug, she suddenly sees Raman barging towards the man in full rage with a rod. She feels desperation... NO... Raman can kill him... she needs to stop him!! Trying to speak through her continuous tears, she calls out to Raman... tells Mani to make him stop. Raman is furious... unstoppable. Ishita cries desperately to make him stop... please stop!! She is desperate to save Raman from doing the worst... and as she cries for him to stop... her desperation to just leave from this hell comes to the forefront. She feels desperation for two reasons... she is desperate for Raman to stop, and desperate to LEAVE this hell and just go home. She just wants all of this to stop! She cries to Raman... please stop Raman... please take me home!! DIVYANKA!! WOW!! You would think that because this is Raman's scene (technically), all focus would be on him. Karan was fantastic no doubt, but I am utterly amazed and awed at how unbelievably well Divyanka brought out Ishita's feelings in this scene... EVEN THOUGH she was not the main focus!!! Even though she was not "under the spotlight" per say... she was shining out as the brightest performer!! Divyanka PERFECTLY showed us Ishita's TWO-SHADED DESPERATION in this scene, while STILL giving all the space for Raman (Karan) to do his thing!! She did not get in the way of his scene at all... we clearly saw Raman's furious anger and Karan's fantastic performance. But Divyanka MAGICALLY was able to STILL showcase her own performance at the same time, without taking away any of the limelight. I mean it was like... like Divyanka was the "shine" to Karan's "star" performance... like you know the glossy shine that you subtly see when a star is gleaming brightly?!? That twinkle... that moment in which a star literally shines?? THAT. EXACTLY THAT is what Divyanka was in this scene. Karan performed Raman's part, but Divyanka brilliantly added her supporting part. SERIOUSLY!! I MEAN HOW?!?!? HOW GOOD CAN YOU GET DIVYANKA?!? I still cannot even believe this!!! It was... I don't know. I don't even know how else to describe it. I have no more words.

Raman gives his last threat to Ashok, finally taking Ishita in his arms: Ishita feels RELIEF and SAFETY

Finally... FINALLY Ishita feels some sense of security when she finds herself in Raman's arms. Still crying, eyes closed, she holds on to his shirt tightly for support, rests her head on his shoulder... and feels immense relief. Divyanka held herself against Karan in such a way that we could FEEL her safety and relief. I could literally FEEL security and relief when I saw Raman finally take Ishita into his arms. It was like she had finally reached safe haven after a treacherous storm. I could feel the sense of being safe.

Raman tries to calm her down: Ishita feels OVERWHELMED

Ishita's tears have reached climax now. She is crying so much, she can't even talk. But she feels like she needs to let it out... she needs to tell Raman what she just faced. She needs him to know. She needs him to know that if he had not come in time, she could have been literally eaten alive... she could've lost everything. She was at the brink of the worst. Raman sits her down, goes to get her water. She doesn't want him to go, but he snaps her out of her insistent cries and tells her she is SAFE now. He comes back with the water, which she drinks... but it does little to calm her down. She starts to speak... trying as hard as she can to tell Raman what happened. The words of her story are coming out in broken pieces, as she tries her hardest to speak through heavy, teary pants. She breaks down even more as she tries to explain how they were looking at her... she can't do it... she can't recount the trauma. Raman asks about Shagun's message... she furiously tries to say yes she messaged, but she forgot to confirm with Mihika... she didn't know this was Ashok's party... so wait... was this her fault? Suddenly, she is overwhelmed with this additional possibility... she is completely flustered... still panting, still crying. Divyanka's portrayal of Ishita's overwhelming experience and attempt to recite the trauma to Raman was OUTSTANDING. OUT. STANDING. I mean... it was so, so, SO real. I could feel her pain, her need to tell him everything but not being able to say it all through her tears... her hurting heart... it was so, so, SO powerful!!! DIVYANKA... SUPER, SUPERSTAR is what you are!! I was literally holding my breath at this point... your performance was STUPENDOUS.

Raman takes her into his arms, telling her he is taking her home: Ishita feels ULTIMATE SOLACE

She was never able to finish any of her sentences. Still crying her heart out, Raman holds her in his arms for a moment before declaring that they will head home. Ishita immediately nods in agreement and they head to the car, Raman holding onto her as they walk. Ishita has been through hell, but she is finally going to shelter... away from her place of humiliation. She feels solace, as she heads home with Raman. Divyanka's portrayal of Ishita's instant agreement to head home was perfect. It was not too overdone, which would have looked like she was still in fear (because she was afraid of still being in this place). Instead, it was perfectly executed as a feeling of thankfulness for having finally reached the ultimate solace. She was relieved to be in Raman's arms, but found ULTIMATE relief when she was at last heading home to shelter... far, far away from hell. Divyanka's PERFECT portrayal of this emotion was done in this simple scene, where Ishita instantly agrees to head home, and calmly makes her way towards solace with Raman. BRAVO!

WHAT A ROLLERCOASTER!!! WHAT A PERFORMANCE!! MY GOODNESS!!

Seriously, I don't even think words could ever, EVER do justice to the brilliance and genius that is Divyanka Tripathi. I am completely bowled over by this woman!!

Divyanka Tripathi portrayed 18 different emotions, each at varying degrees, in her character of Ishita Bhalla during this episode. EIGHTEEN EMOTIONS that I have just attempted to describe. IS THIS EVEN REAL?! In one episode, this woman showed us ALL of this.

And just look at what we went from... and to what? And HOW!! From the beginning of the episode to the end. One scene Love to one scene Anticipation, next scene Shock turned to Confusion, Distress turned to Concern, Anger turned to Fury, Disbelief turned to Disgust, Fear in one moment, Pain in another moment, turned to Aching Pain, turned to Desperation (two shaded), turned to Relief and Safety, suddenly feeling Overwhelmed by everything, to FINALLY feeling Ultimate Solace. OH. MY. GOD. UNBELIEVABLE.

I don't know what more to say. Thank you Divyanka Tripathi... for giving us Ishita Bhalla. THANK YOU!!!

I could feel everything that Ishita went through. Everything. No actress has ever made me feel a character so much. THIS... THIS is why you are a BRILLIANT actress Divyanka. Because you make us FEEL what you are on screen. You make it REAL.

I love you so much.

xx Ria